A Moment in Time
by Arliaa
Summary: Carefully she lifted the quill and opened the small vial of ink. This was the most difficult letter to write. A letter that would not only break her heart but Toni's as well. However, Cheryl knew it must be done. She knew that this was the only way for her to let go.
1. Chapter 1

Cheryl Marjorie Blossom was many things. Beautiful, rich, charismatic and above all else perceptive. She knew all of this of course. Despite what others said Cheryl was more than just a pretty face. She was more than what most people believed her to be, even at times that person being herself.

However, Cheryl was not a coward. She had always prided herself on being forthcoming with everything that she wanted. Never backing down without a fight and even then she would still rise up for another bout without a second thought. Cheryl believed wholeheartedly that if you wanted something you had to take the initiative and achieve it. She believed that nothing in this life came to someone freely; she learned that all too clearly with her mother and father.

That was however before Cheryl met the one person that made her want to back down. It was before Cheryl Blossom met Antoinette Topaz. Before all Cheryl's demons came back into fruition. Before Cheryl finally felt herself losing the control she had perfectly constructed around herself.

Toni Topaz with her soft smiles and kind eyes broke down every barrier that she had. Toni who stuck with her despite everything and caused Cheryl's broken heart to start mending. Toni the girl that Cheryl was starting to fall hopelessly in love with.

Toni the girl that Cheryl could never allow for that love to be returned.

Cheryl knew that Toni deserved someone so much better than her. She deserved someone that wasn't scared of being loved. She deserved someone that could completely let their walls down. She deserved someone who could love her as openly as she deserved.

She didn't deserve to pick up the pieces of Cheryl's broken heart. She didn't deserve to be the one that Cheryl lashed out at. She didn't deserve to have to wait for Cheryl to become a better person.

Toni Topaz deserved the world and Cheryl Blossom was willing to give that to her; and even though it hurt her. Cheryl knew that she couldn't be part of that world. Not when she knew that Toni would find someone else. Cheryl didn't think she could bear seeing Toni happy with someone else, even though Cheryl knew it was for the best.

Which was why Cheryl was in her current predicament. She was sitting in her room at her desk. Her eyes trained on paper that lay before her. Cheryl glances to quill and ink vial that were next to it, and she couldn't help that her lips lifted up at the sight. It had been a gift from Jughead when he learned that she liked to write. At first Cheryl had looked at him like he had grown a second head, before she simply took the gift with a smile. It had been thoughtful and Cheryl appreciated it immensely. She just never knew that it would be used like this.

Carefully she lifted the quill and opened the small vial of ink. This was the most difficult letter to write. A letter that would not only break her heart but Toni's as well. However, Cheryl knew it must be done. She knew that this was the only way for her to let go. Even though Cheryl knew Toni would end up hating her. Cheryl would rather have Toni hate her now rather than later. She'd rather let Toni go now and be free. Then be chained down by the Blossom curse; to be chained down by her. Because Cheryl would rather walk through hell then have Toni be destroyed by her family. She'd rather give up the one semblance of happiness that she had. Especially if it meant keeping Toni as safe as she possibly could.

Because the Blossom's were cursed. Their lineage was riddled with blood and deceit. Pain and horror was their legacy, and death was their future.

For everything a Blossom loved would die. For every person a Blossom trusted they would turn their backs, and Cheryl wasn't going to allow that to happen to Toni. The one person who cared for her, besides Nana Rose, was gone. Her JJ was never coming back, and it was all because of the Blossom curse. The light of her life was taken from her, leaving her in eternal darkness. Until Toni had a lit a match within her. Had showed her that there was so much more to living then she had known. Had showed her that maybe Cheryl Blossom was worth more than everyone thought.

However this was exactly the reason Cheryl had to let Toni go. Cheryl could not allow Toni to be roped into her life anymore. Not when she knew what would happen if she did. She would never allow Toni to come to harm, not when she could help it. Which was why Cheryl had to leave. She knew that Toni would never allow her to be alone if they were in the same place. Toni would be as persistent and stubborn as she always was, and end up causing Cheryl to fold. Which was something that absolutely could not happen. For once Cheryl was trying to look passed her own desires and see the bigger picture. That picture, however heart wrenching it may be, included her absence. She knew that Riverdale and all its inhabitants would be happy with one less Blossom in their midst.

Cheryl had meticulously planned her escape step by step. The letter being that last thing on her list, wanting to take as much time as she could thinking about what she wanted to write.

She was after all an overachiever. Cheryl never did anything half-assed. So as she looked down at the paper, quill poised to write, Cheryl finally knew what she was going to write.

And so she did.

* * *

It was a quarter passed midnight and the nights icy winds were bone chilling. Causing Cheryl to pull her coat tighter against her body. She looked up towards the sky and couldn't help but smile. She had always found something peaceful about looking up at the stars.

The way they all elegantly stood proud among the darkness that surrounded them. Shining just as brightly, undeterred by the weight of it. While the moon stood in its eternal spot as guardian over them. Its silvery glow causing them to shine even more. They, the stars and the moon, were ever changing, yet they still coalesced with one another. Like one big cosmic family that Cheryl wished she could be part of, because at least then Cheryl knew she would be part of something that could never be broken. For even if the stars that are there weren't the ones that were there before. Something would still grow from them, maybe not what was there before but it would still be beautiful and have its purpose.

Though that thought soon vanished when she looked out at the road that stretched before her. A road that would lead to escape. A road that signified that soon she would finally be free. Even though she was leaving everything behind, Cheryl knew it was what was best. For everyone.

She couldn't help but remember the days that led up to this. Couldn't help but relive all the pain and suffering that had transpired. However Cheryl quickly curved her mind from those thoughts. This was not the time to be reminiscing, this was the time for action.

As if her body understood the challenge her mind at just given it, her foot hit the accelerator and Cheryl felt her car lurch forward towards her freedom. However with every moment that passed Cheryl felt her heart break. She felt her mind run itself ragged with the what if scenarios.

However Cheryl knew that could never happen. Her plan was already in motion, the letter already given and her mind already set. However that didn't stop the pain at her decision from consuming her.

The tears burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down her face. Cheryl feels the muscles of her chin tremble like a small child and she looks toward the window, as if the light could soothe her. There is static in her head once more, the side effect of this constant fear, constant stress she lives with. She hears her own sounds, like a distressed child, raw from the inside. It takes something out of her she didn't know she had left to give. That's the way it is when people are cold. It's like a theft of the spirit, an injury no other person can think of ever receiving.

Though Cheryl pulled herself together, even as she felt her tears slide down her cheeks. She would not change her mind, this needed to be done. Even if she felt like she was ripping her heart out in the process; that was a small price to pay for her happiness.

Even as she felt her pain intensify as she approached the sign that truly signaled she was free. A sign that signaled that there was no turning back after this.

As she passed the sign that read;** 'You're Now Leaving Riverdale, We Hope To See You Again Soon!'**

She didn't look back.

* * *

**A/N: Hey everyone! I hope that you like the first chapter at my attempt of a Riverdale story. I have published this from my Ao3 account and I hope that you all enjoy the many chapters to come. **

**I'm sorry for all the misspelled/missing words.**

**Arliaa**


	2. Chapter 2

Toni felt her tears fall down her face as heart wrenching sobs shook her frame. The tears fell unending down her face. Their trails leaving blotchy marks in their wake. She didn't understand; what had she done wrong? What had driven Cheryl to do this?

Toni believed that she connected to a part of Cheryl that others never felt. She saw a part of Cheryl's soul that Cheryl never wanted to let out of the bag. Toni touched her and saw Cheryl's reaction, beautiful and raw. For those moments Cheryl was more real than the blood in Toni's own veins, and she felt Cheryl like the beating of her own heart. Whenever they looked at each Toni knew that they could both feel it; they both felt like they had finally found home. The bond they forged was still molten when Cheryl pulled away, too nascent to resist her urge to hide once more.

Toni would have done anything to have stopped her. She would have called for her, she would have held out her hands and let her face become wet with untold tears; but Cheryl would not or could not return her love. That proof was plain enough in the letter that lay beside Toni's thigh. Its pages crumpled slightly, in the way a book crumples when its been read many times. The pages, although weathered, were perfectly, almost lovingly, maintained to their original perfection. However what one couldn't account for was the dark blotches that sporadically covered the pages. As if someone had dripped something onto them without a care in the world, because maybe they just lost theirs. Those pages signified the end of something that barely had a chance to start.

And because of it so Toni's world has become blacker than it ever was before, darker because of Cheryl's absence, loneliness crippling her every thought. Toni's lungs struggle for breath against ribs of stone. She felt nothing but the numbness within her. Before she met Cheryl, Toni's heart was soft, with her it became strong and vibrant, now it is simply broken. A shell of what it used to be with the beautiful red head by her side.

It's strange.

How hollow she feels. . .

It's like those chocolate bunnies people buy around the time of Easter.

A shell encapsulating a world of nothing.

_I'm like that_, Toni thinks to herself bitterly. _I encapsulate a world of nothing without her._

It had only been two days since Toni had found the letter on her doorstep. Two days since she last let a genuine smile spread across her face. Two days since her world disappeared.

Toni looked back down, with blurry eyes, at the paper that was ingrained into her mind. For Toni knew that even if she closed her eyes, the words would be burnt onto her eyelids. She knew that she would forever hear Cheryl's voice in her ear. Always close but never near enough for her to catch.

Toni couldn't help the cynical smile that spread across her face. She couldn't believe that Cheryl thought that her absence would be the best for everyone. Did she not know that without her, Toni couldn't feel whole? That Toni would never be able to function without her other half? That Toni was drowning and Cheryl's presence was like the first sip of oxygen? Did she not know how much Toni loves her?

_Of course not,_ Toni thought wryly. _You never had the guts to tell her and, now, because of it she's gone._

A thought that caused a fresh wave of tears to fall.

Cheryl was gone. Toni never knew how much three words could affect her. She, also, never knew that a heart could still beat when it was in pieces.

Toni knew the boys were worried about her but she couldn't bring herself to care. Not when everything that mattered to her was gone. She knew that she still had the Serpents but without Cheryl.. it was like the world was still spinning, still moving on, but she wasn't. The birds were chirping and the sun was shining to everyone but her, because with every melodic sound that she heard. All she could hear was Cheryl's beautiful laugh and see her breathtaking smile. She remembers each _fucking _second of each moment she spent with Cheryl Blossom. Those moments ingrained into her heart and mind for as long as she would breath.

Toni believes wholeheartedly the she and Cheryl were meant to be.

That they were soulmates.

So why couldn't Cheryl?

Toni knows that Cheryl's life was far from picturesque once you got passed the facade that was built. That despite everything her parents got for her it paled in comparison to what Cheryl, truly, wanted.

Love.

Cheryl wanted nothing more than to be loved and cherished and, for a time, she was. Toni may have never met Jason but she knew the impact that he had on Cheryl. That through the darkness of Thornhill, Jason was her shining light. The glowing beacon to guide her through her darkest times.

Then, just like a light, he was gone. Taken by Cheryl's own father and soon after he was gone as well.

Toni didn't want to imagine the pain that Cheryl must have felt in those moments. Didn't want to imagine how lost the Blossom heir must have felt.

Toni wants to believe that the others were there for Cheryl but she knew, in her heart, that they weren't. It seems that nobody, besides herself, wanted to make an effort to break down Cheryl's walls. Something that caused Toni's heart to break even more. The thought of Cheryl feeling alone broke her more than she thought possible. She knew that Cheryl could be selfish but Toni, also, knew how much the Blossom loved. When Cheryl cared for someone she would care with her entire being. Which made all the betrayals that much more tragic.

She could feel a headache coming on amid the swirling thoughts running rampant through her mind. So many questions ever present.

However, above all else, Toni wanted to know why.

Why would Cheryl do this?

Why would Cheryl leave everything and everyone behind?

_Leave me, _Toni thinks with another wave of tears falling from her eyes. Even if Toni's romantic interest hadn't been brought to light she still believes that she and Cheryl had gotten close. So why would Cheryl think that leaving was a good idea?

Toni is brought from her warring thoughts by a knock at the front door of the trailer. She didn't have to wonder who it was for long because, without invitation, the door swung open with a thud. Toni watches as Sweet Pea and Fangs enter with take out in their hands. She can see the sadness and sympathy within their gazes and she doesn't know what to do. She knows that she should pull herself together. To actually _do_ something with her time rather than wallow, but she can't. Every time she thinks she's ready to pull herself together another memory surfaces. From Cheryl's adorable pout to her incredibly sexy smirk and everything in between.

Toni knows that the only thing that would make her feel whole again was seeing Cheryl's beautiful brown eyes once more.

For now, however, Toni looks up towards her best friends who only smile softly. She can tell that they want to comment but both know not to. Neither of them could understand how Toni was feeling. Neither of them could truly comprehend what she and Cheryl had, and what Toni lost with Cheryl leaving. Neither of them could understand her heartache.

Without even realizing it Toni felt another round of tears escape her eyes. She could feel the sobs she's been fighting down break through. Almost immediately Sweet Pea and Fangs were by her side. Both wrapping their strong arms around her making a protective huddle.

"It's okay Tiny we're here. We're here," Fangs says, softly, as Sweet Pea rubs her back softly.

His sentence only causes Toni to cry harder because there's only one person she wants right now.

One person she will never see again. Who had stunning red locks and sparkling brown eyes.

One person who Toni never got to say I love you to.

One person who took Toni's heart with her as she left.

Toni didn't stop the tears from coming because there was many more to come.

* * *

**A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you like the new chapter for A Moment in Time. I hope that the angst was okay because I am not the best at writing it.**

**Also if anyone would like to see any prompts be done feel free to ask me and I will make them as soon as I am able. **

**I hope you all have a great day/night!**

**Arliaa**


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